Item 01: Ralph Ingram Moore letters, 10 February 1907-15 March 1918 - Page 173
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[Page 173]
7.
this is the oldest mosque in Cairo. The builder had lived on the site (so the fable goes) for a certain number of years without shifting his tent. He went to the Sultan and asked him for the land he had been living on. The Sultan told him he could have as much land there as he could cover with a camel skin. The wiley Amru cut the skin into very thin strips and in this way was able to surround a large area. On this ground he built his mosque. This building originally contained 365 pillars €“ one for each day in the year. You see though he had not allowed for leap year. He often pondered over this defect and one night he dreamt that he went to Mecca, where the Prophet gave him another pillar. The dream was so vivid that he set out on his pilgrimage. The prophet was good to him and gave the longed for pillar. Instead of having the pillar sent all the way from Mecca to Cairo, the Prophet simply told the pillar to go & gave it a crack with his whip, whereupon it flew all the way. The guide will show you the mark circling round the pillar which the Prophet's whip made.